The full moon helped lead Dorothy down a shadowy road, as she skipped in the company of not a scarecrow or lion, but a pirate and Wonder Woman.

DRC/David Minton

First Baptist Church of Denton members Kaitlyn Walker, left, and Justin Lowe, right, help Truth Byars, 5, take down cans during Carnival 31 on Saturday at the church.

View larger More photos Photo store

They didn’t need courage or a brain — all they needed was candy. And they wanted it now.

The 6-year-old Dorothy, better known as Vail Bodine, raced her pirate costume-clad brother, Jayden, and superhero sister, Victoria, to the steps of a well-lit front porch.

She rang the bell and fiddled with her wicker basket.

Jayden looked up at the light and started to point out the bugs. “Ring it again,” he said.

She rang again, and waited.

Thousands of Denton residents celebrated the Halloween holiday this year by trick-or-treating, visiting carnivals or walking through haunted houses.

The Carnival 31 festival at First Baptist Church of Denton expected nearly 3,000 attendees, and the Halloween Carnival and Haunted House at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center expected hundreds of children in a two-hour time frame.

Many parents take their children to festivals and carnivals to keep them safely off the streets and away from cars, said Carla Besco, interim children’s minister at First Baptist Church of Denton.

Besco, one of the organizers of the church’s carnival, said the event is an alternative way to celebrate Halloween.

“A lot of parents feel there’s a danger in trick-or-treating,” Besco said. “This is a safe alternative to trick-or-treating door-to-door. People park here and have a good time with their kids.”

The carnival asked attendees for food and toy donations in exchange for a night’s fun that included games, rides and “trunk-or-treating.”

More than 2,000 toys were collected last year, helping the church’s charity throughout the holiday season, Besco said.

This year, the church started accepting food donations because of an increased need in the community caused by the global economic downturn, Besco said.

M.J. Martin took her two preteen daughters to Saturday night’s carnival, since her husband wasn’t available to chaperone them around to houses, she said.

“This was the first year he was out of town, and I didn’t want to go trick-or-treating without him,” she said.

The holiday evening was made safer by driving to one place and parking, said Damita Smith, a Denton resident and mother of two 7-year-old boys.

Fewer people seem to be trick-or-treating in certain areas and overloading other neighborhoods, said Codi Alvertin.

Alvertin, her husband, Jack, and two of their five dachshunds loaded into their sport utility vehicle and drove to the carnival to hand out candy in the “trunk-or-treat” program.

“The fancier neighborhoods are getting kids that have been driven in,” she said. “Here, I recognize the kids, and this is a safe place. … This is the new way to trick-or-treat.”

While Alvertin managed her candy — only one piece per child, she said, since they were running out — the Bodine children hit the streets.

Trick-or-treating on the way home from the nearby carnival is now a family tradition, said the children’s father, Jason Bodine.

“They know the games [at the carnival], but there’s a mystery behind the doors,” he said. The carnival “is a good, safe place, and the trick-or-treating is just a bonus.”

As the children raced ahead, each one leaping in front of the next, their parents reeled them in with a warning to check for cars.

“It’s my turn to ring the doorbell now,” said 7-year-old Victoria, her father’s long-sleeve shirt over her Wonder Woman costume.

She pushed the button.

“Hi!” the three children chanted, as handfuls of candy spilled into their buckets from enthusiastic givers — who said they hadn’t had many trick-or-treaters.

“That’s not how you do it,” said their parents. “You say ‘trick-or-treat!’”

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.